THE SEAT THEORY, ITS DEVELOPMENT AND RELEVANCE IN ICA

THE SEAT THEORY, ITS

DEVELOPMENT AND
RELEVANCE IN ICA
SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Apoorvi Shrivastava
Faculty, ICA- Optionals

SUBMITTED BY:
Vikas Ghritlahre, Roll No. 168
Semester IX, B.A., LL.B (Hons.)

SUBMITTED ON:
19th October, 2016

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

RAIPUR, C.G.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am highly elated to carry out my research on the topic, The Seat Theory, Its Development and
Relevance in ICA. I would like to give my deepest regard to my course teacher Mr S.K Sinha,
who helped me with her immense advice, direction and valuable assistance, which enabled me to
march ahead with this topic. I would like to thank my friends, who gave me their precious time
for guidance and helped me a lot in completing my project by giving their helpful suggestion and
assistance. I would like to thank my seniors for their valuable support. I would also like to thank
the library staff and computer lab staff of my university for their valuable support and kind
cooperation.

Vikas Ghritlahre

Semester
IX

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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION..5
I.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.4
II.
OBJECTIVES4
2. CHAPTER 1....06
3. CHAPTER 210
4. CONCLUSION....16
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY......17

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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The method of research adopted for the project is the analytical and descriptive method.
The texts that were used for the project include articles, research papers and news given in
various websites as well as online journals

.OBJECTIVES
1. To have a detailed study of the seat theory of applicability of laws in ICA
2. To explain the relevance of the aforementioned theory to International Arbitrations at
present

INTRODUCTION
Arbitration is one of the methods for the settlement of dispute which the parties agreed
voluntarily via arbitration agreement. According to the arbitration legislation and practices of
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many states, the parties may reach agreement on any matters of arbitration, including but not
limited on the application of the arbitration rules, the choice of arbitration institution, arbitrator,
seat of arbitration, the applicable law for the arbitration agreement, arbitration proceedings and
merits of the case, as well as the language, in their arbitration agreement.
In the practices of international commercial arbitration, it is the most important that the parties
may agree on the seat of arbitration than any other items in their arbitration agreement either in
ad hoc or institutional arbitration, since the seat of arbitration plays an important role in deciding
the jurisdiction of the arbitration institution and the validity of the arbitration agreement. Even in
domestic arbitration, the seat of arbitration concerns such a matter that which court has
jurisdiction on the vacation of the arbitral award. Therefore, it is necessary to make clear of the
relationship and distinction between the place of arbitration and any location where the
arbitration hearings or meetings are conducted, as well as to how to determine the seat of
arbitration.

CHAPTER I

I. DEFINITION OF THE SEAT OF ARBITARTION

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A. The Definition of the Seat of Arbitration

The concept of the seat of arbitration has special meaning in international commercial
arbitration. The British Arbitration Act 1996 section 3 defines the seat of arbitration as its
judicial seat. Some prestigious scholars described in the book Russell on Arbitration TwentyFirst Edition that: Like other jurisdictions, England regards it as essential for an arbitration to
have a seat, a geographical location to which the arbitration is ultimately tied and which
prescribes the procedural law of the arbitration. The parties are free to choose a seat, or
specifically, a procedural law of the arbitration, which may be different from the proper law of
the contract and the proper law of the arbitration agreement. English law does not recognize the
possibility of delocalized arbitral procedures which do not have a connection with any national
system of law.1It is our point of view that the seat of arbitration means the source where the
binding force of arbitral award came from.

B. The Nature of the Seat of Arbitration in International Arbitration

In international commercial arbitration legislation and practices, the seat of arbitration usually
refers to the place for arbitration, where the award was made. The terms seat and the place of
arbitration could be used interchangeably in practices. Once the place of arbitration is decided,
the arbitral tribunal may conduct hearings and meetings in any location of the states other than
the place of arbitration. For instance, the parties from Hong Kong and Macau may agree in their
arbitration agreement that the ICC International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Rules
shall apply and the place of arbitration shall be Singapore. In such a case, the ICC Court of
Arbitration is responsible for the administration of the case, while the legal place of arbitration is
Singapore. Suppose the arbitrators are from Tokyo, Bangkok and Beijing. After the established
the tribunal, the hearings were conducted in Hong Kong or Macau for the parties convenience,
and the tribunal deliberated the case in Tokyo. In legal sense, in spite of the fact that Singapore,
1 Russell on Arbitration Twenty-First Edition by David St. John Sutton, John Kendall
and Judith Gill, published in 1997 by Sweet & Maxwell Limited, p.74-75.

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Macau, Tokyo and Bangkok related to the arbitration procedure, the legal place is the Singapore
due to the agreement between the parties on the place of arbitration.

II. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SEAT OF ARBITARTION AND LOCATION

WHERE THE HEARINGS OR MEETINGS ARE CONDUCTED

As we discussed above, in international commercial arbitration practices, the seat of arbitration

has special meaning which is different from any other places, such as where the hearings or
meetings are conducted. Of course, the place of arbitration and those of hearing or meetings are
both relate and distinct each other.

A. Relations Between the Place of Arbitration and Location of Hearing or Meeting

The relations reflected that while the place of arbitration in the arbitration agreement is the same
location where the hearings and the arbitral tribunals deliberation of the case. In such
circumstances, the place of arbitration itself is the place of hearings and tribunals deliberation.
Take the Chinese arbitration for example: there are about 185 arbitration commissions in China
currently. The parties agreed to submit their dispute to a particular arbitration commission, in
practices the location of this particular arbitration commission is the very place of arbitration, so
is the place of hearing, and the same place where the tribunal deliberates the case.

B.

Distinctions Between the Place of Arbitration and Location of Hearing or Meeting

The distinctions usually take place in international arbitration practices. The parties from
different countries in their arbitration agreement agreed to submit their dispute to a permanent
arbitration institution in one country (ICC Court of arbitration in Paris, France) and the place of
arbitration in another country (Singapore). When the arbitration tribunal was composed, the
arbitrators may decided to have hearing in the third country (New York, USA) for the parties
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convenience. The tribunal agreed to deliberate the case in the fourth country (Mexico city,
Mexico) for the arbitrators convenience since they were from difference countries. In such a
case, the legal place is Singapore agreed by the parties in their arbitration agreement. New York
is the place where the hearing was taken place while Mexico city is the place where the tribunal
deliberate the case. New York and Mexico city are simple the location for hearing and
deliberation and have any meaning on the legal place of arbitration. The award is considered
made in Singapore, even though the hearing was not held there. If any of the party intends to set
aside the award, it should apply for the competent court in Singapore in accordance with the
local law.

We could also find the distinction from the Arbitration Rules of the London Court of
International Arbitration (LCIA). Article 16 of LCIA Rules provided the following:
16.1 The parties may agree in writing the seat (or legal place) of their arbitration. Failing such a
choice, the seat of arbitration shall be London, unless and until the LCIA Court determines in
view of all the circumstances, and after having given the parties an opportunity to make written
comment, that another seat is more appropriate.
16.2 The Arbitral Tribunal may hold hearings, meetings and deliberations at any convenient
geographical place in its discretion; and if elsewhere than the seat of the arbitration, the
arbitration shall be treated as an arbitration conducted at the seat of the arbitration and any award
as an award made at the seat of the arbitration for all purposes.
16.3 The law applicable to the arbitration (if any) shall be the arbitration law of the seat of
arbitration, unless and to the extent that the parties have expressly agreed in writing on the
application of another arbitration law and such agreement is not prohibited by the law of the
arbitral seat.

III. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEAT OF ARBITRATION IN INTERNATIONAL

COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION PRACTICES

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The seat of arbitration played very important role in international commercial arbitration. Its
significance reflected in the following aspects.
A.

It decides the validity and the nationality of the award

The most significance of the seat of arbitration closely related to the origin of the legal binding
force of the award. In another word, where the binding force of an award came from. Article 39
of the Japanese Arbitration Law provided that (3). The arbitral award shall state its date and
place of arbitration. (4) The arbitral award shall be deemed to have been made at the place of
arbitration. The award is considered to be made at the seat of arbitration. If the national court set
aside award made in the seat of such court, foreign court may refuse to enforce it, as provided by
Article 5 (1) (e) of the New York Convention provided.2
B.

It decides the court entitled to set aside the award

As usual practices, the national court may only set aside its own award. As to the foreign arbitral
award, the court may decide whether to enforce it or not. According to New York Convention,
the national court to which a party applies for enforcement of foreign arbitral award, may refuse
upon the other partys application based on the court-confirmed proof, that it had been set aside
by the national court where it was made. So only the court, where the award was made, is
entitled to set aside the arbitral award.

2 The provision of Art. 5 (1) (e) of the New York Convention as following: (1)
Recognition and enforcement of the award may be refused, at the request of the
party against whom it is invoked, only if that party furnishes to the competent
authority where the recognition and enforcement is sought, proof that: (e) The
award has not yet become binding on the parties, or has been set aside or
suspended by a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of
which, that award was made.

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CHAPTER 2

IV. DETERMINATION OF THE SEAT OF ARBITRATION

In international commercial practices, the place of arbitration is ultimately determined by the

applied arbitration rules and law, which provided methods to determination of such place as
following:

A. By the Applied Arbitration Rules

If the parties did not mention the place of arbitration in their arbitration agreement, but the
particular arbitration rules or the permanent arbitration institution, the place of arbitration should
be decided by the applied arbitration rules. In international commercial arbitration practices, the
fact that the parties agreed to present their dispute to a particular arbitration institution, implied
to apply the arbitration rules of such institution, unless the parties agreed otherwise. For instance,
if the parties agreed to present their dispute to China International Economic & Trade Arbitration
Commission (CIETAC), it means to apply the CIETAC Arbitration Rules. And the determination
of the arbitration place relied on such applied rules. As to the decision on the place of arbitration
in such rules, it could be divided into the following provisions.
1. The place of arbitration is the same as the Place of Business of the arbitration institution
Some arbitration rules have special provision on such place. Article 16 of the LCIA 1998
Arbitration Rules mentioned that if the parties failed to agree on the place of arbitration, the seat
of arbitration shall be London, unless and until the LCIA Court determines in view of all the
circumstances, and after having given the parties an opportunity to make written comment, that
another seat is more appropriate. The Arbitral Tribunal may hold hearings, meetings and
deliberations at any convenient geographical place in its discretion; and if elsewhere than the seat
of the arbitration, the arbitration shall be treated as arbitration conducted at the seat of the
arbitration and any award as an award made at the seat of the arbitration for all purposes.
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According to 2006 International Commercial Arbitration Court of Russian Federation Arbitration

Rules, the place of arbitration is only Moscow.3As a result, if the parties submit their dispute to
Russian arbitration court, the award made by the court is always in Moscow due to the applied
rules.
To sum up, if the parties failed to agree on the place of arbitration, it is the applied arbitration
rules to determine such place. Some arbitration rules provided that the place of arbitration is the
same place of the permanent arbitration institution.
2. The place of arbitration is different from the Place of Business of the arbitration
institution
There are such circumstances in international commercial arbitration practices. If the place of
arbitration is different from that of the arbitration institution, how to determine the nationality of
such international arbitral award? In my personal opinion, it should be the arbitration rules
applied and the applicable national law that decide the nationality of such international award.
For example, the title of Article 20 of the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the
Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, effective on January 1, 2007, is the Seat of Arbitration. It
provides as following:
(1) Unless agreed upon by the parties, the Board shall decide the seat of arbitration in
accordance with Article 9.
(2) The arbitral tribunal may, after consultation with the parties, conduct hearing at at place
which it considers appropriate. The arbitral tribunal may meet and deliberate at any place which
it considers appropriate. If any hearing, meeting, or deliberation is held elsewhere than at the seat
of arbitration, the arbitration shall be deemed to have taken place at the seat of arbitration.
(3) The award shall be deemed to have been made at the seat of arbitration.4

3 Article 22 of 2006 Arbitration Rules of Russian Federation Arbitration Court

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Article 14 of the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) Rules of Arbitration (1998)
provided the following determination of the place of arbitration.
(1) The place of the arbitration shall be fixed by the Court unless agreed upon by the parties.
(2) The Arbitral Tribunal may, after consultation with the parties, conduct hearings and meetings
at any location it considers appropriate unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
(3) The Arbitral Tribunal may deliberate at any location it considers appropriate.
That is to say if the parties failed to determine the place of arbitration in their arbitration
agreement, it is the ICC Court of Arbitration that makes such decision. In addition, the place of
arbitration could be in Paris, where the ICC Court locates, or in other cities out of France, no
matter it is decided by the parties or by the Court. The award made in the state other than France
should be considered as the award of the state where it is made. And the local court could set
aside such award upon the partys requirement in accordance with the local law.
In ICC international arbitration practices, parties often agreed on the place of arbitration. For
instance, in 2003, the parties agreed on the place of arbitration in the clause in 76% of the cases
and by subsequent agreement in 11% of the cases. In the remaining 13% of cases, the ICC Court
determined the place of arbitration.
In 2005, a total 521 new cases were registered, bringing the number of cases handled by the ICC
Court since its creation to over 14,000. 5In 87.4% of the cases introduced in 2005, the parties had
chosen the place of arbitration either in the arbitration clause or by subsequent agreement. In the
remaining 12.6% of cases, the Court was required to fix the place of arbitration either because
the parties had not been sufficiently specific (e.g. they had merely specified a country without
specifying a city, had expressed no choice at all, or had been unclear I their choice), or because
they disagreed over the place of arbitration. The places of arbitration chosen by the parties or
fixed by the Court in 2005 were situated in 85 cities in 50 different countries.
4 www.sccinstitute.com

5 ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin, Vol. 17/No.1 2006. at 5.

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In 2006, ICC Court accepted 593 requests for Arbitration. Those requests concerned 1,613
parties from 125 countries and independent territories. In 10.5% of cases at least one of the
parties was a State or parastatal entity. The place of arbitration was located in 52 countries
throughout the world. Arbitrators of 71 nationalities were appointed or confirmed under the ICC
Rules. The amount in dispute exceeded one million US dollars in 55.5% of new cases.6
As to the distinction between the place of arbitration and that of hearing and deliberation, the
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) 2002 Arbitration Rules has similar provisions
in Article 39:
(a) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the place of arbitration shall be decided by the Center,
taking into consideration any observations of the parties and the circumstances of the arbitration.
(b) The Tribunal may, after consultation with the parties, conduct hearings at any place that it
considers appropriate. It may deliberate wherever it deems appropriate.
(c) The award shall be deemed to have been made at the place of arbitration.
It can be concluded from above-mentioned arbitration rules that the place of arbitration could be
the same place of arbitration or different from that of the institution, such as provided by the ICC
Rules and LCIA Rules. In the later circumstances, in spite of the fact that under the
administration of the arbitration rules, the arbitration could be conducted in the place which is
different from that of the arbitration institution. The award is to be made in the place of
arbitration other than the institution locates. And the nationality of the award is that of the place
of arbitration instead of where the arbitration institution locates. For instance, the parties agreed
on the application of ICC Rules, the place of arbitration is London. The award made in
accordance with ICC Rules should be treated as British award instead of French award. This
author disagrees with the point that the place of arbitration is the place where the arbitration
institution locates by some scholar in China. 7Due to the fact that almost of all the arbitration
6 http://www.iccwbo.org/court/arbitration/id11088/index.htmlvisited on October 9,
2014

7 See Kang Ming, Issues Relating to Market Access for Commercial Arbitration
Service in China, from Arbitration and Law, No.6, 2003, at 57.
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rules of the permanent arbitration institutions, including UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, have
special provision on the place of arbitration, which could be selected by the parties in their
arbitration agreement. Such a place could be the same of the arbitration institution locates or
different from it, whether the parties agreed in arbitration agreement or decided by the arbitration
institution or arbitral tribunal in accordance with the applied arbitration rules.

B. By the Applied Arbitration Law

If the arbitration agreement did not provided the applied arbitration rules, any party may apply to
the national court for the determination of the place of arbitration in accordance with the local
arbitration law. For instance, Article 20 of the Model Law on International Commercial
Arbitration drafted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in 1985 and
adopted by dozens of countries and regions currently now has special provision as to the
determination of the place of arbitration.
(1) The parties are free to agree on the place of arbitration. Failing such agreement, the place of
arbitration shall be determined by the arbitral tribunal having regard to the circumstances of the
case, including the convenience of the parties.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this article, the arbitral tribunal may,
unless otherwise agreed by the parties, meet at any place it considers appropriate for consultation
among its members, for hearing witnesses, experts or the parties, or for inspection of goods,
other property or documents.
Article of 28 of the Japanese Arbitration Law 8also provided clearly the basic principles for the
determination of the place of arbitration: (1) The parties are free to agree on the place of
arbitration. (2) Failing such agreement as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the place of
arbitration shall be determined by the arbitral tribunal having regard to the circumstances of the
case, including the convenience of the parties. (3) Notwithstanding the place of arbitration
8
Law No. 138, 2003, effective on March 1, 2004
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determined in accordance with the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, the arbitral
tribunal may, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, carry out the following procedures at any
place it considers appropriate: (i) consultation among the members of the arbitral tribunal; (ii)
hearing of parties, experts or witnesses; and (iii) inspection of goods, other property or
documents. Among the basic principles to determine the seat of arbitration, the principle of the
parties autonomy is in priority. Only the parties failed to decide such a seat, the arbitral
institution or tribunal may decide such a seat.
In sum, the agreement of the parties as to the place of arbitration is respected by both the
arbitration rules and the applicable law of the state. The place of arbitration agreed by the parties
in their arbitration agreement should be the place of arbitration in legal sense. In the absence of
such agreement, the arbitral tribunal or the arbitration institution may decide the seat of
arbitration. In some special circumstances, the national court may also design such place in
accordance with the local law.

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CONCLUSION
We could draw the following conclusion from above-analyzed:
1.

In international commercial arbitration, the seat of arbitration refers to the place, where the

award was considered to be made. It is the court, where the arbitral award was made, being
entitled to set aside the arbitral award.
2.

It is the applied arbitration rules and arbitration law that determine the seat of arbitration.

3.

According to the applied arbitration rules and law, the basic principles to determine the seat

of arbitration are: (1) The parties may agree to the place of arbitration in their arbitration
agreement. (2) If they failed to agree on it, the place of arbitration should be determined by the
arbitral tribunal or institution in accordance with the applied arbitration rules or law.
4.

Under the institutional arbitration, the seat of arbitration could or could not be the same as

the business place of such permanent arbitration institution. The deciding point is the provision
of the applied arbitration rules of this institution. Under ad hoc arbitration, the seat is decided by
the applied arbitration law.
5.

The nationality of the international arbitral award should be the state where the arbitral

award is made in accordance with the universally applied standard.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY

Russell on Arbitration Twenty-First Edition by David St. John Sutton, John Kendall and

Judith Gill, published in 1997 by Sweet & Maxwell Limited

www.sccinstitute.com
Christopher R. Drahozal & Richard W. Naimark, Towards a Science of International

Arbitration, Kluwer Law International, 2005

ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin, Vol. 17/No.1 2006.
http://www.iccwbo.org/court/arbitration/id11088/index.html

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